Scottish Executive

Care of Elderly People

Angus MacKay (Edinburgh South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will implement free nursing and free personal care for older people.

Malcolm Chisholm: Further detailed consideration has been undertaken on practical issues arising from the new policy, including the issue of attendance allowance and the detailed work required of local authorities. We are now able to move ahead.

  The Chair of the steering group which was established to advise on implementation has advised that a slight delay in implementation would allow an orderly introduction of the new arrangements, in the light of all the preparatory work required. After considering the impact of this proposal carefully, the Executive has decided that full implementation of free nursing and personal care for those assessed as needing it will take place from 1 July 2002.

  The amounts to be paid from 1 July 2002 for those in care homes will be £145 per week for those assessed as needing personal care and a further £65 per week for those assessed as needing nursing care. Those who accept such a payment towards their nursing and personal care costs will cease to be eligible for Attendance Allowance under Department of Work and Pensions rules, but are of course being fully compensated by the amounts set out above.

  Those who currently pay charges for the personal care provided to them in their own homes will not be charged for that type of care after 1 July 2002. Nursing care is already provided free of charge by the NHS for those at home through the community nursing and health visitor services.

  Those types of care defined by the Care Development Group as personal care will be included in the Community Care and Health Bill currently before Parliament, subject to parliamentary approval.

Child Poverty

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children live in poverty according to the most recent figures available and whether it will show this figure using the headline measure recommended by the Statistical Programme Committee of the European Community.

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the process by which it arrives at a figure for the number of children currently in poverty, including the method of calculation and any other factors which may affect the final figure.

Iain Gray: The Social Justice Annual Report 2001 and its annex, entitled "Indicators of progress: definitions, data, baselines and trends information", were both published on 26 November 2001. They provide the latest data on the range of milestones used to measure child poverty.

  We are making improvements in data collection in a number of areas relating to the Social Justice Strategy. As I noted during the debate on the Social Justice Annual Report on 29 November 2001, we are not in a position to give numbers regarding children living in low income households because of technical difficulties with the Department for Work and Pensions’ Family Resources Survey data. We are investing £230,000 to double the size of the sample in Scotland and have agreed a programme to change the way they generate Scottish information, in order that we can produce more detailed income data.

  A detailed description of the methodology used in calculating the low income figures is available in the Department for Work and Pensions’ annual publication Households Below Average Income. The 1999-2000 publication was published on 13 July 2001 and a copy is available from the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 14722).

Digital Technology

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in developing broadband technology.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Development of broadband technology is largely a matter for the suppliers. However, the Executive is beginning to look at broadband demand stimulation measures as we are keen to see higher bandwidth services deployed as widely as possible in Scotland. As a first step, we are proposing a programme of measures which will support trials and pilot projects of the new technologies which are becoming available. These will utilise the DTI £30 million fund for innovative projects to extend broadband networks, £4.4 million of which has been allocated to Scotland.

Digital Technology

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail any representations which it, Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise have made, or plan to make, to (a) the Department of Trade and Industry, (b) the Office of Telecommunications, (c) BT Group plc and (d) Scottish Chambers of Commerce on the receivership of Atlantic Telecom and the economic implications of this for businesses and other customers.

Ms Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-20231 on 6 December 2001.

Digital Technology

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it, Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise have made, or plan to make, to (a) the Department of Trade and Industry and (b) the Office of Telecommunications on increasing choice in the telecommunications sector for Scottish businesses in order to provide more enterprise opportunities and as part of its broadband strategy.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Telecommunications regulation is reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the Department of Trade & Industry and OFTEL regarding the impact of UK policies on Scotland.

  Within the context of its economic development remit, Scottish Enterprise is developing the Accessing Telecoms Links Across Scotland (ATLAS) project which aims to increase choice within the wholesale telecoms market in Scotland. Ultimately this should benefit businesses by increasing choice of suppliers at a local level.

Education

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what provision of cycling activities and qualified cycle personnel currently exists in schools.

Lewis Macdonald: In September the Scottish Executive published A Review of the Take-up of Cycle Training in Scotland . This publication provides information on training activities in each local authority area. I have arranged for a copy to be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Ferry Services

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive on what dates it has had meetings with P&O Scottish Ferries to discuss (a) extending the Northern Isles ferry contract and (b) any staffing issues relating to the transfer of the contract to Northlink Orkney & Shetland Ferries Ltd.

Lewis Macdonald: Scottish Executive officials have had a number of meetings and other exchanges by letter and telephone with P&O Scottish Ferries about a range of issues related to the Northern Isles ferry contract, including staffing matters related to the transfer of the contract to NorthLink. Further discussions with P&O Scottish Ferries will take place in the near future.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether general practitioners must provide the prostate-specific antigen test on request.

Malcolm Chisholm: The National Screening Committee (NSC) recently considered the current policy for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing and concluded it did not give clear guidance on how to deal with men asking for a PSA test where there are no symptoms nor family history of prostate cancer. The NSC recommended that if, after receiving full information about PSA test limitations and treatment side effects they wish to proceed, these men should have access to PSA testing facilities.

  Guidance is currently being issued to general practitioners and professional networks in Scotland informing them of this position.

Home Energy Conservation Act 1995

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what targets have been set under the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 for each individual local authority.

Iain Gray: Local authorities were asked to set challenging but achievable targets for improving home energy efficiency over 10-15 years from April 1997. They have set their own targets accordingly, but these may change over time.

Homelessness

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin & Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many persons are currently classified as rough sleepers in (a) Scotland and (b) East Dunbartonshire and what steps are being taken to reduce these figures.

Iain Gray: I refer the member to the reply given to question S1W-18044 on 11 September 2001. The Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) has made £42 million available to local authorities over five years, 1997-98 to 2001-02 to tackle rough sleeping. Further funding has been made available in 2002-03 and 2003-04 linked to Local Outcome Agreements, which will ensure the continued focus on the overarching target to end the need to sleep rough by 2003. East and West Dunbartonshire first bid for RSI funding in 1998-99 and received joint funding of £45,500 from 1998-99 to 1999-2000. They bid separately in 2000-01 and in the last two years East Dunbartonshire has received total funding of £75,675. The council will receive £29,675 in each of the next two years, which will continue support for its outreach work and rent deposit scheme.

Housing

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new (a) public sector and (b) private sector homes will be constructed in Edinburgh in each of the next five years.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive does not forecast new housebuilding by local authority area. Edinburgh, West Lothian, Midlothian and East Lothian Councils are currently consulting on a draft structure plan covering the period 2000-15. The plan considers the need for new housebuilding in Edinburgh and the Lothians and how much of these might be built in Edinburgh. Copies of the draft can be obtained from any of the councils. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 provides for Scottish ministers to require local authorities to prepare local housing strategies. These will be based on an assessment of housing need and will set out local authorities' strategies for meeting this need over the following five-year period.

Justice

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take to prevent any non-payment of fiscal fines.

Mr Jim Wallace: At my request the Criminal Justice Forum has recently been considering how fines enforcement generally might be improved. Proposals under discussion include the introduction of Fines Enforcement Officers and more flexible arrangements for payment.

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to reduce harassment of people with mental health problems.

Malcolm Chisholm: Part of the solution must lie in addressing people’s attitudes to mental health and to those with mental health problems. We need to tackle the stigma which many associate with mental illness. The Scottish Executive is already committed to this.

  I announced in October 2001 that I am establishing a National Advisory Group, consisting of a range of stakeholders from health, education, social justice, business and other areas, to be responsible for developing a national programme to promote mental health and well-being and to address stigma. The Executive will invest over £4 million over three years in this programme.

  Behaviour which might be described as harassment can be prosecuted as a breach of the peace (which can cover all behaviour which causes or is likely to cause, fear, alarm, upset or annoyance). The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 provides further protection to victims of harassment. Under the act victims can take action in the civil courts to obtain damages for the harassment and can also obtain a non-harassment order (NHO) to prevent further harassment. This year’s criminal justice legislation will provide for the introduction of a specific power of arrest for breach of an NHO.

Mental Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what research projects on child and adolescent mental health are currently under way in the NHS in Scotland and how much funding it is providing to each project.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Executive Health Department has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health services and patient care within the NHS in Scotland.

  CSO directly funds three projects on child and adolescent mental health research. Details are as follows:

  Adolescents with psychosis in Scotland: prevalence, health service use and disabilities. Cost: £116,134.

  A pilot study using fMRI to image imitation in autistic spectrum disorders. Cost: £66,165.

  Prosodic skills in children with autism. Cost: £135,438.

  In addition, information provided to CSO by NHS Trusts suggests that the NHS R & D Support Fund indirectly supported 359 research projects into mental health, at a total cost of £2,729,260 in the last financial year. It is not known what proportion of these projects deal specifically with child and adolescent mental health. Details of all current and recently completed research projects can be found in the National Research Register, a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 17404).

NHS Waiting Times

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when the National Waiting Times Co-ordination Unit will be set up and how much the unit will cost to (a) set up and (b) run.

Malcolm Chisholm: I announced details of the National Waiting Times Unit on 8 January 2002.

  The unit will be an integral part of the Scottish Executive Health Department rather than an external body, and its staff will be drawn from NHSScotland and the Health Department. Set up and running costs will be met from existing resources.

NHS Waiting Times

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the National Waiting Times Co-ordination Unit is a short-term measure or will remain a functional part of long-term patient care.

Malcolm Chisholm: On 8 January 2002 I announced details of the new National Waiting Times Unit, which has been established to work with NHSScotland to reduce delays by ensuring better and more efficient use of capacity and co-ordinating a regional or national response to local bottlenecks or pressures.

  The unit has a wide-ranging remit and will remain in place until it has been discharged.

NHS Waiting Times

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients will benefit from the National Waiting Times Co-ordination Unit.

Malcolm Chisholm: On 8 January 2002, I announced details of the new National Waiting Times Unit, which has been established to reduce delays for patients by ensuring better and more efficient use of capacity and by co-ordinating a regional or national response to local bottlenecks or pressures. Initially it will focus its efforts on tackling delays in the clinical priorities of cancer and heart disease, as well as working to reduce the longest waits experienced by patients.

  The unit will seek to ensure that the most effective use is made of Scotland’s collective health resources, and its work will be of significant benefit to a substantial number of patients across the country.

NHS Waiting Times

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive who will manage and direct the National Waiting Times Co-ordination Unit.

Malcolm Chisholm: I announced details of the National Waiting Times Unit, including the appointment of John Connaghan, Chief Executive, Fife Acute Hospitals NHS Trust as Director, on 8 January 2002.

Planning

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to altering planning or other regulations to prevent trees cutting off daylight from nearby residential properties and what action it plans to take on this issue.

Mr Jim Wallace: The planning system is intended to control "development" of the built environment, not the growth of trees and hedges, and we have no plans to change the system in that respect.

  The Executive issued a consultation paper in January 2000 to try to gauge the extent of problems with high boundary trees and hedges. Having considered the responses, I announced the Executive's intention on 31 January 2001 to introduce a statutory remedy of last resort in relation to nuisance high hedges. The remedy would involve complaints to the local authority and enforcement action in appropriate cases, where other avenues had been exhausted. It was made clear, however, that no commitment could be given at that stage as to when legislation might be brought forward. In view of its substantial legislative programme, the Executive cannot at present give a commitment on when legislation on high boundary trees and hedges might be brought forward.

Population

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are expected to move residence to Edinburgh over the next five years.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Registrar General for Scotland’s 1998 based population projections assume that net migration (the balance between inflows and outflows) into Edinburgh City for the years 2000-01 to 2015-16 will be 950 people per year. Assumptions for the 2000 based population projections are currently under consideration with a view to publication in February 2002. It is likely that the assumed level of net migration into Edinburgh City in these projections will be higher than the 1998 based projections.

  The Registrar General’s population projections are trend based projections rather than forecasts. They give an indication of how the population of Scotland will change if recent past trends continue. They cannot take account of the uncertain effects of future decisions on employment and housing.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20329 by Mr Jim Wallace on 7 December 2001, what the turnover of (a) uniformed and (b) non-operational staff has been at each Scottish Prison Service prison expressed as (i) number of leavers and (ii) percentage of total staff in each of the last five years.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The available information is:

  (a) Operational Staff

  


Establishments 
  

1996
No. of Leavers 
  

1997
No. of Leavers 
  

1998
No. of Leavers 
  

1999
No. of Leavers 
  

2000
No. of Leavers 
  



Aberdeen 
  

11 
  

11 
  

8 
  

- 
  

3 
  



Barlinnie 
  

31 
  

17 
  

9 
  

16 
  

9 
  



Castle Huntly 
  

2 
  

- 
  

2 
  

2 
  

1 
  



Cornton Vale 
  

5 
  

7 
  

6 
  

5 
  

9 
  



Dumfries 
  

7 
  

5 
  

2 
  

2 
  

- 
  



* Dungavel 
  

1 
  

2 
  

3 
  

3 
  

- 
  



Edinburgh 
  

31 
  

26 
  

27 
  

15 
  

19 
  



* * Friarton 
  

3 
  

2 
  

3 
  

3 
  

- 
  



Glenochil 
  

21 
  

14 
  

10 
  

16 
  

15 
  



Greenock 
  

4 
  

10 
  

2 
  

1 
  

7 
  



Inverness 
  

3 
  

4 
  

7 
  

2 
  

8 
  



* Longriggend 
  

7 
  

6 
  

6 
  

6 
  

- 
  



Low Moss 
  

3 
  

3 
  

1 
  

2 
  

2 
  



Noranside 
  

2 
  

3 
  

- 
  

1 
  

1 
  



* Penninghame 
  

1 
  

1 
  

3 
  

- 
  

- 
  



Perth 
  

18 
  

20 
  

16 
  

13 
  

13 
  



Peterhead 
  

15 
  

11 
  

5 
  

10 
  

13 
  



Polmont 
  

12 
  

13 
  

4 
  

5 
  

2 
  



Shotts 
  

14 
  

25 
  

10 
  

7 
  

17 
  



* * Shotts Unit 
  

1 
  

1 
  

1 
  

- 
  

- 
  



* * Shotts NIC 
  

1 
  

1 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  



Total No. of Leavers 
  

193 
  

182 
  

125 
  

109 
  

119 
  



 % of Staff 
  

5.7 
  

5.2 
  

3.5 
  

2.9 
  

3.4 
  



  Notes:

  * Closure Establishments.

  ** Amalgamated Establishments.

  (b) Non-Operational Staff

  


Establishments 
  

1996
No. of Leavers 
  

1997
No. of Leavers 
  

1998
No. of Leavers 
  

1999
No of Leavers 
  

2000
No. of Leavers 
  



Aberdeen 
  

2 
  

3 
  

- 
  

3 
  

3 
  



Barlinnie 
  

9 
  

21 
  

25 
  

20 
  

10 
  



Castle Huntly 
  

2 
  

2 
  

2 
  

1 
  

- 
  



Cornton Vale 
  

3 
  

1 
  

6 
  

6 
  

7 
  



Dumfries 
  

4 
  

4 
  

4 
  

4 
  

4 
  



* Dungavel 
  

1 
  

2 
  

1 
  

1 
  

- 
  



Edinburgh 
  

7 
  

17 
  

19 
  

15 
  

12 
  



* * Friarton 
  

- 
  

2 
  

1 
  

1 
  

- 
  



Glenochil 
  

7 
  

12 
  

7 
  

4 
  

- 
  



Greenock 
  

4 
  

4 
  

4 
  

5 
  

2 
  



Inverness 
  

2 
  

4 
  

3 
  

3 
  

3 
  



* Longriggend 
  

2 
  

2 
  

5 
  

6 
  

- 
  



Low Moss 
  

5 
  

12 
  

4 
  

4 
  

7 
  



Noranside 
  

1 
  

4 
  

- 
  

2 
  

2 
  



* Penninghame 
  

1 
  

1 
  

1 
  

- 
  

- 
  



Perth 
  

8 
  

12 
  

15 
  

8 
  

9 
  



Peterhead 
  

2 
  

9 
  

4 
  

3 
  

7 
  



Polmont 
  

3 
  

3 
  

4 
  

2 
  

10 
  



Shotts 
  

4 
  

10 
  

7 
  

6 
  

7 
  



* * Shotts Unit 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  



* * Shotts NIC 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  



Total No. of Leavers 
  

67 
  

125 
  

112 
  

94 
  

83 
  



 % of Staff 
  

9.05 
  

17.8 
  

14.8 
  

11.8 
  

10.7 
  



  Notes:

  * Closure Establishments.

  ** Amalgamated Establishments.

  Numbers is based on voluntary resignation it does not include retiring employees.

  Information is not held in respect of HMP Kilmarnock.

Public Transport

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to improve the public transport links between Edinburgh and West Lothian.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive supports public transport improvements through the Public Transport Fund. To access the fund, local authorities present projects to the Scottish Executive, individually or in partnership with other local authorities, for consideration.

  The provision of local bus services is a matter for individual bus operators and the relevant local authorities.

Rail Services

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17478 by Sarah Boyack on 28 August 2001, what progress is being made with the detailed study it has commissioned into direct air links to Edinburgh and Glasgow airports and when it expects the final report to be published.

Lewis Macdonald: Sinclair Knight Merz have recently been commissioned to undertake a study into rail links to these airports. It is too early to say what the outcome will be. The final report containing the consultants’ conclusions and recommendations is expected in autumn this year.

Roads

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive under what specified climatic conditions Amey Highways and BEAR (Scotland) Ltd are expected to grit trunk roads; what the amount of salt is per square metre with which they are expected to grit trunk roads and how this amount varies under different specified climatic conditions, and how frequently they are expected to grit roads and how this frequency varies under specified climatic conditions.

Lewis Macdonald: Winter Maintenance Plans have been drawn up by Amey Highways and BEAR (Scotland) Ltd. The detailed information requested can be found in copies of these plans which have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Roads

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the role and remit of the Performance Audit Group is in the monitoring of the trunk road maintenance contracts; what its membership is; what its annual budget is, and whether any contractors or consultants have been employed by the group over the past year and, if so, what payments were made to them.

Lewis Macdonald: The Performance Audit Group’s (PAG) role is to monitor and report on the technical, financial and quality management performance of the new trunk road Operating Companies. This is very similar to the role which PAG performed in respect of the previous trunk road maintenance operators. PAG consists of personnel drawn from the Halcrow Group Ltd and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The estimated outturn cost of PAG for 2001-02 is £1.8 million. No contractors have been employed by PAG over the past year. Sub-consultants have been employed for short, specialist assignments at a cost of around £3000.

Scottish Higher Education Funding Council

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding support it has allocated to the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council to meet its objectives of promoting access for poorer Scots and those living in rural areas identified in the annual guidance letter of 10 December 2001.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Our overall aim must be that widening access becomes embedded as a mainstream activity for higher education institutions. I am therefore pleased that as part of its consideration of a new condition of grant the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council is currently considering how to achieve this, in a way which recognises the specific circumstances of individual institutions. Overall funding for the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council for the period 2001-02 to 2003-04 was set out in the guidance letter I sent to the council on 23 November 2000. This noted that overall planned funding for 2001-02 was 5.6% higher in real terms than in the previous year, with the value of the settlement maintained in real terms over the following two years.

  Over the period, £18 million was specifically earmarked within the council’s financial settlement for widening access. In particular, the council was asked to:

  provide a further 800 fully funded FTE places by academic year 2003, in addition to the 2,000 already allocated in the 1998 review, with these to be targeted in such a way as to maximise their take-up by those from currently under-represented groups;

  devise a mechanism to provide additional support to institutions which reflects the extent to which they provide for students from under-represented groups, and

  devise a scheme to incentivise private sector investment in access initiatives.

  On 11 December 2000, I subsequently announced that an additional £0.5 million would be made available to the council during 2000-01, which it should use to encourage collaborative development projects to increase the uptake of higher education and Continuing Professional Development in the rural south west.

  In addition, funding of £21 million has transferred to the council for over the period 2000-01 and 2001-02 in respect of funding for the higher education in the Highlands and Islands via UHI Millennium Institute, designated as a higher education institution on 1 April 2001, and the Open University in Scotland, which has a strong track-record of providing higher education to those in remote rural areas, and whose funding was transferred during 2000-01 to the council. This figure is largely comprised of funds transferred from the Scottish Further Education Funding Council, which previously funded higher education provided by further education colleges in the Highlands, and from the UK Government, which previously funded the Open University in Scotland.

Scottish Transport Group Pension Schemes

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18626 by Lewis MacDonald on 28 November 2001, on what date the value of each Scottish Transport Group pension fund at 31 March 2001 will be available; what the estimate is of the value of each fund at 31 March 2002, and whether any increases in the value of each fund following 31 March 2000 will accrue to the fund members or to Her Majesty's Government.

Lewis Macdonald: Publication and timing of publication of the Report and Accounts for both Scottish Transport Group pension schemes, which detail the scheme balances, are matters for the trustees. The Scottish Transport Group Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2001, which will include a reference to the net surplus in the pension schemes, were presented to the Scottish Parliament on 14 December 2001. No estimates have been made by the Executive of the funds as at 31 March 2002.

  Under the rules of the schemes the sums remaining in the pension schemes on wind-up fall to the UK Exchequer. As I announced in the Parliament on 29 November, Scottish ministers have secured for distribution the full amount of the estimated increase in the net surplus between 31 March 2000 and 31 March 2001, an additional £18 million, by agreement with Treasury Ministers.

Social Inclusion

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin & Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what input it is making to the work on knowledge pools undertaken by the Social Exclusion Unit.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive is responsible for tackling social exclusion in Scotland. We understand that the knowledge pools being planned by the Social Exclusion Unit are still in development.

Social Inclusion

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any investigations into any alleged irregularities in the use of Social Inclusion Partnership funds in Glasgow are currently being undertaken.

Ms Margaret Curran: There are at present two projects in Glasgow which have received Social Inclusion Partnership funding and which are currently under investigation by Glasgow City Council's Internal Audit Department because of alleged irregularities in the use of Social Inclusion Partnership funds.

Social Inclusion

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in the event of a project funded by a Social Inclusion Partnership closing down, what would happen to (a) any monies allocated to the project and (b) any equipment purchased by the project using public funds.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive's Standard Terms and Conditions of Grant for the Social Inclusion Fund sets out our requirements in relation to grants made under this funding package and in particular the obligations of the grant recipient for Social Inclusion Partnership (SIP) funding.

  Under these conditions all land and buildings and all moveable property with a value of £50,000 or more purchased with the aid of Social Inclusion Partnership Fund funding shall be owned by the grant recipient and shall not be disposed of during the grant funding period without the consent of Scottish ministers.

  In the event of a SIP funded project closing down what would happen to the monies allocated to the project and any equipment purchased by the project using public funds will depend on the specific terms and conditions under which the grant had been allocated by the grant recipient, which at present will be the local authority, to the SIP. The terms and conditions of grant adopted by grant recipients are formulated by themselves, not the Executive and therefore vary across Scotland.

Social Inclusion

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the money allotted to the Social Inclusion Partnerships in 2000-01 was actually spent.

Ms Margaret Curran: I refer the member to Table 2 in the answer given to question S1W-21050 on 10 January 2002.

Social Inclusion

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual administrative costs are of Social Inclusion Partnerships currently operating in Glasgow.

Ms Margaret Curran: The administrative costs claimed by Glasgow City Council for the Social Inclusion Partnerships operating in Glasgow in 2000-01 were £392,062.

Telecommunications

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in its discussions to seek to allow businesses to retain their existing telephone numbers following Atlantic Telecom going into receivership.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive has no function in relation to telecommunications regulation.

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it received the report by Steer Davies Gleave, Evaluation of the Rural Transport Fund ; what action has been taken to implement any of the report’s recommendations, and, in particular, what action it has taken, or proposes to take, regarding the Rural Petrol Station Grant Scheme.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive received the Steer Davies Gleave evaluation of the Rural Transport Fund in January 2001.

  The evaluation made a number of recommendations across a range of issues, and the Scottish Executive has responded by implementing a number of these. In particular the distance criterion for support to Rural Petrol Stations for installation of LPG tanks and dispensers has been reduced from 30 to 15 miles.

  The Scottish Executive is also co-operating with the work of the Scottish National Rural Partnership to improve a number of aspects of life in rural areas including those that are transport related.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-20307 on 12 December 2001, when, or within what timescale, Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd should have provided a Performance Bond; what specific obligations the bond was to cover; what attempts were made to secure compliance with the contractual requirement to provide a bond, and when, and by whom, any such attempts were made.

Sir David Steel: The contract with Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd   specified that   a Performance Bond should be provided within 10 working days of the contract being completed as a deed. The contract was signed on 1 August 2001 and the Performance Bond was therefore requested by 15 August 2001.

  The Performance Bond should have covered 10% of the full contract value in the event that Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd were unable to fulfil their contract obligations.

  Verbal requests to the contractor for provision of a Performance Bond were made, initially, by the Construction Managers, Bovis Lend Lease (Scotland) Limited, by telephone and at package meetings. This was followed by the issue of a Notice Of Failure, specifically referring to the failure to provide a Performance Bond, on 30 August 2001 by the Holyrood Project Team. Ultimately, stipulations were also made at meetings with the President and Chairman of Flour City International Inc. by the Holyrood Project Team. This activity all took place between June and October 2001.

Parliament Contracts

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what mechanisms the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has to review the performance of tenderers for Parliament contracts.

Sir David Steel: The tendering procedures followed by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body are documented in the Parliament's Procurement Procedures Manual . The performance of tenderers is routinely evaluated, as part of the selection process, following receipt of completed tender documentation, and may involve taking up references and other reports, site visits and financial viability checks. The extent of this evaluation will be dependent on the nature, value and risk of the contract.

Parliament Contracts

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether potential tenderers for Parliament contracts can be deemed to be ineligible to tender and, if so, on what grounds.

Sir David Steel: In certain circumstances potential tenderers for Parliament contracts might be asked to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire, which requests information on a wide range of a company's operations, including their financial and technical capability. Companies may be excluded from the bidding process after evaluation of the results. Applications that do not reach the minimum acceptable score set, or not received before pre-set deadlines, are automatically deemed to be ineligible to tender.

Parliament Contracts

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has excluded any bidders from any tendering processes and, if so, who and on what grounds.

Sir David Steel: The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body routinely excludes bidders from the tendering process to ensure that the quality of prospective contractors fully meets the requirements of the Parliament. Grounds for exclusion vary according to the nature and value of each particular contract; examples are inadequate management structures, staffing levels, financial and technical capabilities or quality of systems in place. A lack of similar previous experience or the capacity required to carry out the terms of the contract generally, would also be grounds for exclusion. The Parliament would not normally identify individual companies and release the specific reasons for their exclusion, for reasons of commercial confidentiality.